Associations of Adverse Childhood Experiences to Smoking and Nicotine Dependence Among Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients

Our aim was to examine whether ACEs associate to regular smoking and nicotine dependence (ND) among 508 psychiatric inpatients aged 13-17 years. Adolescents were interviewed using the Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children and the European Addiction Severity Index -instruments. ND was measured with the modified Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire. In girls, all violent ACEs (domestic violence, physical abuse at home, sexual abuse) were related to regular smoking and some family-related ACEs (parental divorce and substance use problems) both to regular smoking and ND. After controlling for covariates, girls with parental substance use had an increased likelihood for being a regular smoker and having ND. Greater number of ACEs in girls indicated higher level of ND. Corresponding associations were not observed in boys. Our findings suggest that girls after experiencing ACEs are more prone to becoming smokers and developing ND already in adolescence compared to boys.